


Taking Up the Challenge (Or the Hazards of an Over Protective Boss)

by Telaryn



Category: Leverage
Genre: Awkward Flirting, F/M, First Kiss, Flirting, Kissing, Multi, Protective Eliot Spencer, Trapped In A Closet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-14 00:52:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9149440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Telaryn/pseuds/Telaryn
Summary: Mr. Quinn is interested in the pretty waitress at the Bridgeport Pub, and she definitely seems interested in him.Problem is, the members of Leverage International are interested too - in keeping their favorite waitress well out of Quinn's sphere of influence.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ladyjax](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyjax/gifts).



> From your prompt: 1. Inappropriate Relations - Alec, Parker and Hardison discover Amy and Mr. Quinn are a thing. They have an opinion.
> 
> Although clearly Hardison has the softest heart of the three, I hope you enjoy the way their opinions take shape. Thank you for playing with us!

It had started off simple enough – he’d been dressed a little upscale for their usual clientele, and he had asked if ‘Mr. Spencer’ was around, when most looking for the team’s particular type of help either asked for ‘Parker’ or “one of the owners” – but Amy had learned not to question such things. She’d poured him water, told him that none of the owners were expected back until late, and taken an order for a bowl of Eliot’s special recipe chili.

The twenty dollar tip on a thirteen dollar and change ticket had been a little strange, but it was late and he’d disappeared into the back with Eliot and Parker by the time she realized the size and weight of the folded bill. Anywhere else, Amy might have chased him down – asked him if he was certain about the gesture – but here she just pocketed the money and smiled at the look on Parker’s face if she knew Amy had considered for even a second giving back money someone had left for her.

He was back the next night – dinner with Eliot in the main dining room. Amy didn’t give it much thought; of all the team, Eliot seemed to prefer the energy and activity of the public areas of the restaurant. She did learn his name that night – Jonah Quinn – and looked for the first time directly into his dark eyes. “Pleasure’s mine,” he said, catching her hand and brushing a kiss across her knuckles.

In the hands of a lesser man the gesture would have been impossibly cheesy, bordering on creepy. Quinn made it charming in a way Amy had never encountered before, and the smile she gave him in response was unexpectedly genuine. The idea that Eliot might have really been growling under his breath while it happened was weird, but not enough to keep her from smiling every time the memory resurfaced through the rest of her shift.

“All three of them have warned me off you.”

Her heart jumped on hearing his voice as she left the pub, but he was standing far enough away from her that she understood he was at least trying to appear non-threatening. Not that she would have ever thought any friend of Eliot Spencer’s was non-threatening, but Amy decided on the spot not to share that bit of character assessment. Turning to face him instead, she crossed her arms over her chest and adopted what she hoped was a passably aggressive stance. “And yet here you are.”

That same impossibly charming grin she’d appreciated before widened slightly. “Here I am.”  
*************************************  
Hardison had said once that Quinn was the sort who had poked “radioactive badgers” as a child. He liked the phrase – it was one of the few things the hacker had said over the years that didn’t immediately move Quinn to punch something.

Plus, it was accurate. His interest in the pretty waitress had already been piqued, but getting dogpiled by all three members of Leverage International had cemented his determination to pursue the attraction and see where it went. “Your name’s Amy, right?”

Her smile widened, which made his pulse jump slightly, and Quinn fancied he could see color faintly staining her cheeks. “You know it is,” she said, her tone chiding. “And you should probably know I’ve been warned off you too.”

Inexplicably encouraged, he risked a step closer. “Honestly, you should probably take that advice. I really am a questionable character.”

She arched one eyebrow, and Quinn knew on the spot that he wanted to hear whatever smart-ass comment she was about to let fly. Unfortunately before she could say a word, he realized the car slowing next to them was a police cruiser; maneuvering slightly to put himself between her and whatever trouble had just rolled up on them, Quinn gave the newcomers his full attention. “Yes, officers?”

The one in the passenger seat looked past him to Amy. “Is this man bothering you, miss?” Even before Quinn had become the kind of person policemen needed to warn unsuspecting pretty girls about, he’d had a part in this little drama. Ducking his head, and spreading his hands so that they stayed plainly in view, he stepped back out of the way.

“ID please,” the other officer said, as he got out of the driver’s seat. Trying very hard not to swear – even under his breath – Quinn reached for his wallet with one hand, his movements exaggerated and slow. The temptation to put his hands on his head after handing the wallet over was strong, but he held it off, figuring that the uniformed man probably wouldn’t take it well.

He’d take it right – he just wouldn’t take it _well._

“Is there a problem here, officers?” All of them turned to see Hardison approaching the scene – his body language open, friendly and concerned. Eliot was at his heels. _Son of a bitch,_ Quinn thought as their eyes met in the dim light and the missing pieces of the night’s puzzle clicked into place.

He wouldn’t be going to jail tonight, but he also wouldn’t be walking the pretty waitress anywhere.  
********************************  
It was called a ‘social engineering attack’ by hackers, and Amy had learned that her boss was one of the best around at them. She’d also learned to recognize when he’d shifted into that mode, even if she didn’t always understand why.

“You have a suicidal streak.” Even though she’d seen him striding along in Hardison’s wake, Amy still flinched as Eliot came up beside her. “We told you to stay away from him.” Before she could let him know exactly what she thought of his assessment of her and her situation, Eliot took a step forward. “Officer, I’m going to make sure Amy gets home okay. I appreciate you both stopping and checking on this situation.”

Instead of paying attention to the officers, Amy looked to Quinn. He didn’t seem worried or angry about being set up – instead, his handsome face was set with an expression of bored good (okay, reasonably good) humor. He nodded slightly to acknowledge her, and then Eliot had her by the arm and was walking her away from the scene.

Amy let herself be guided until they were out of earshot, then jerked her arm free. Eliot let her go without comment. “I know he seems charming, but you don’t know what you’re getting into with Quinn,” he said as she quickened her pace.

At the end of her patience, Amy rounded on Eliot – bringing the hitter up short. “Which is it? Does he steal? Hack? Beat people up? Kill them?”

People said a lot of things about Eliot Spencer, to his face and behind his back, but Amy had never heard anyone question the man’s intelligence. “Little bit of all of it,” he admitted, looking mildly embarrassed.

“But nothing so bad the three of you won’t have dinner with him, act friendly with him?” When Eliot didn’t immediately respond, she nodded. “I thought so. Have a good night, Mr. Spencer. I can make it home from here by myself.”

He didn’t force his company on her, which Amy was deeply grateful for. Ever since learning the truth about her employers, including the fact that she needed to consider Parker and Mr. Spencer on the same level as Mr. Hardison, she’d begun to alter her world view to allow for the fact that a thief might not necessarily be a bad guy – or if she was, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

And now that she had a moment to breathe, she could acknowledge that the trio’s somewhat extreme methods aside, they did care about her and her well-being.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket. Drawing it out, she saw that she had a text message from an unfamiliar number.

 _Not going to jail tonight,_ it read. _Would you be offended if I saw this set-back as a challenge to be met and mastered?_

Smiling in spite of herself, Amy texted back, _Not so long as you stay focused on your ultimate goal. I don’t like being used._  
**************************  
Nothing out of the ordinary happened for nearly a week, even though Quinn was a regular presence at the Bridgeport Pub. Amy went about her duties, carefully avoiding initiating any kind of contact, although occasionally she would feel him watching her. Those times she caught him at it, his reaction inevitably caused her to smile.

Which is why her brief surge of adrenaline as she was grabbed one afternoon and dragged into a supply closet quickly passed. “This is driving me crazy,” Quinn whispered, bracing himself with one hand on the opposite wall just above her head. “What is it about you that has those three so determined to keep me off you?”

Amy was beginning to suspect the motivation driving her three bosses, but information about her family was something she definitely didn’t know Quinn well enough to risk sharing. So instead she said, “I could ask the same about you? What is it about you, Mr. Quinn that means I should stay away from you?”

He grinned, leaning in closer. “I already told you I was a bad man,” he chided her. “You didn’t seem to have a problem with it though.”

She shrugged, trying to maintain her attitude of cool self-possession. “I’d be kind of a hypocrite if I did, wouldn’t I?” Her heart was suddenly pounding so hard and so fast that she wondered if he could hear it in the enclosed space.

Almost as if he could hear it, or at least figure out from the look on her face where her thoughts were leaning, Quinn begged, “Please tell me it’s okay to kiss you.”

Instead of answering verbally or wasting anymore time, Amy cupped his face between her hands, went up on her toes and kissed him. He clearly hadn’t expected her to make the first move, and definitely not now, but Quinn was nothing if not resourceful. Amy quickly found herself backed into the wall, being kissed as thoroughly as she’d ever been kissed.

“When do you get off tonight?” he asked, just before seeking out a sensitive patch of skin behind her left ear and doing something with the point of his tongue that turned the world momentarily white around her.

Before Amy could organize her thoughts enough to answer him, the two of them heard the turn of a lock and the weight of a hacker’s body leaning against the door.

“Just get it out of your system,” Hardison murmured from the other side of the door. “I’m tired of watching you two eat your hearts out.”

Startled almost to speechlessness, Amy turned her attention back to Quinn. “Do we trust him?” the hitter asked.

“Ask yourself this instead,” Hardison said. “Can you afford not to?”


End file.
